Material Requirements Planning (MRP) is the backbone of production planning in SAP S/4HANA. A successful MRP run depends on having the correct master data in place.

This blog provides a practical, no-nonsense guide to the absolute minimum master data setup required to execute a successful multi-level MRP run.

The scenario: Raw Materials → Semi-Finished Good → Finished Good, planned via MRP with results visible in MD04.

Before you start, understand the sequence. Each step depends on the previous one:

Tip (S/4HANA Public Cloud): The transaction codes listed throughout this blog (e.g., MM01, CS01, CR01, CA01, C223) are not accessible via SAP GUI in S/4HANA Public Cloud. You can find the corresponding Fiori apps by searching for the transaction code directly in the Fiori Launchpad search bar. For example, searching MM01 returns the Manage Materials app.

Important: Copying a material in MM01 does NOT copy its BOM, Routing, or Production Version. You must create these separately for each material.

Transaction: MM01 (Create) | MM02 (Change)

You need three types of materials. Select the following views when creating:

• Raw Material: Basic Data + MRP Data
• Semi-Finished: Basic Data + MRP Data + Work Scheduling
• Finished Good: Basic Data + MRP Data + Work Scheduling

Tip: MM01 is technically ‘create material views'. If you forgot to create a view, go back to MM01 (not MM02) and select the missing view – it will create it for the existing material.

3.1 Minimum Fields

Basic Data

Field	Value
Base Unit of Measure	PC (Pieces) – or appropriate UoM
Material Group	Your Material Group (e.g., L002 – Raw Materials, L004 – Finished Goods, L003 – Semi Finished)

MRP Header Fields

Field	Value
Plant	Your Plant (e.g. 1010)
Storage Location	Your storage location ( e.g. 101A – Finished Goods, 101B – Semi Finished, 101C – Raw Material )

 MRP 1

Field	Value	Why
Base Unit of Measure	PC (Pieces) – or appropriate UoM
MRP Type	PD	Enables MRP planning for this material
Lot Sizing Procedure	EX (Exact)	Lot-for-lot planning
MRP Controller	Your MRP Controller (e.g., 001)	Determines the person or team responsible for the availability of the material.
Purchasing Group	Your Purchasing Group (for e.g., 001)	Represents a specific buyer or a group of buyers responsible for procuring the material.

MRP 2

Field	Value	Why
Procurement Type	F (External) E (In-House Production) X (Both Procurement Types)	Raw materials are always purchased, never produced. Hence, use F (External) for Raw materials.
Planned Delivery Time	1 (day)	Rough lead time for procurement
Production Storage Location	Your storage location	Where procured material is stored
In-house production time	1 (day)	Approximate time in days that is required for a material that is to be produced in-house. Valid for Semi-Finished and Finished Goods Materials.

MRP 3

Field	Value	Why
Period Indicator	M (Months)	Planning period granularity
Strategy Group	10 (Make-to-Stock)	Production goes into shared stock

MRP 4

Nothing to maintain. Just navigate through the tab so it gets created.

3.2 Semi-Finished Good – Minimum Fields

Same as Raw Material PLUS the following differences:

MRP 2 – Key Difference

Field	Value	Why
Procurement Type	E (In-house production)	We produce this material ourselves
In-house Production Time	1 (day)	Rough production lead time (independent of quantity)
Planned Delivery Time	1 (day)	Overall time to procure/produce
Production Storage Location	Your storage location	Where produced material goes

Work Scheduling

Must be created (navigate to the tab) but no fields are mandatory to fill. Without this view, you cannot use production orders.

Note on In-house Production Time: This is only for MRP rough planning. It does NOT determine actual operation durations – that comes from the Routing. It's also independent of quantity (whether you produce 1 or 100, MRP uses the same rough lead time).

3.3 Finished Good – Minimum Fields

Identical to Semi-Finished Good. Same views, same fields, same values. Procurement Type = E (In-house production).

Transaction: CS01 (Create) | CS02 (Change) | CS03 (Display)

The BOM lists which components are needed to produce one unit of your Semi-Finished and Finished Goods material. Create a BOM for each Semi-Finished and Finished Good.

4.1 Header Fields

Field	Value
Material	Your semi-finished or Finished Good
Plant	Your plant (e.g., 1010)
BOM Usage	1 (Production)

4.2 Item List – Minimum Fields

Field	Value
Component	Material number of the component
Quantity	How many needed per 1 unit of header material
UoM	PC (Pieces)
Item Category	L (Stock item)

To produce 1 Finished Goods material ZKU_FG_N1, you need 1 PC of Semi-Finished material ZKU_SEMI_N1 and Semi-Finished material ZKU_SEMI_N2.

To produce 1 Semi-Finished material ZKU_SEMI_N1, you need 1 PC of Raw Material ZKU_RAW_N1.

To produce 1 Semi-Finished material ZKU_SEMI_N2, you need 1 PC of Raw Material ZKU_RAW_N2. (Screenshot not shown)

Transaction: CR01 (Create) | CR02 (Change) | CR03 (Display)

The Work Center defines WHERE production happens and determines operation durations via scheduling formulas.

Tip: If a work center already exists, copy it when creating a new one – it saves significant effort.

5.1 Basic Data

Field	Value
Work Center Category	Machine (0001)
Standard Value Key	SAP1 – defines parameters: Setup, Machine, Labor

5.2 Capacities – Key Fields

Field	Value	Notes
Factory Calendar	Your factory calendar	Determines working days
Start Time	07:00	When work center starts operating
Finish Time	16:00	When work center stops operating
Capacity Utilization %	100	Percentage of time that is productive
No. of Individual Capacities	1	How many parallel machines
Relevant to Scheduling	Checked	Must be checked for scheduling to work

Click on the Capacity button.

5.3 Scheduling Formulas

The formulas determine how operation duration is calculated from the standard values in the Routing:

• Setup Duration = Setup Time (from routing)
• Processing Duration = Machine Time × Quantity

These are typically pre-configured (SAP006 or similar). Just ensure they exist – they are maintained on the Scheduling tab.

Click on the Intervals button.

Go back and click on Intervals and Shifts.

Transaction: CA01 (Create) | CA02 (Change) | CA03 (Display)

The Routing defines HOW production happens – which steps, on which work centers, and how long each step takes.

6.1 Header – Minimum Fields

Field	Value	Notes
Usage	1 (Production)
Overall Status	4 (Released)	MUST be 4, otherwise MRP won't use it
Lot Size From	1
Lot Size To	99999999	Maximum possible lot size

Click on the Operations button.

6.2 Operations – Minimum Fields

Field	Value	Notes
Work Center	Your work center	Where this operation runs
Control Key	PP01 or YBP1	Depends on system customizing; must enable scheduling
Machine Time	e.g., 10 MIN	Time per piece (multiplied by quantity)
Labor Time	Same as Machine Time	Set equal to machine time for simplicity

How duration is calculated: Setup Time + (Machine Time × Quantity). Example: If Machine Time = 10 min and you produce 6 pieces, the operation takes 60 minutes.

Tip: Double-click the operation number to open details view – it's much easier to maintain standard values there than in the table. Avoid multiple scheduled operations on the same work center. The scheduling APIs don't handle this well. If you need multiple steps, use different work centers.

Transaction: C223

The Production Version is the LINK between your material, its BOM, and its Routing. Without it, MRP doesn't know how to produce the material.

7.1 Minimum Fields

Field	Value	Notes
Production Version Name	e.g., DEF1	Per material; system takes alphabetically first by default
Lock	Not locked
Lot Size Min	1	Must match routing lot sizes
Lot Size Max	99999999	Must match routing lot sizes
Valid From	Today's date
Valid To	31.12.9999	Latest possible date
Task List Type	Routing	Select via F4 help → search by material
Task List Group/Counter	Use F4 help	Search by material to find the routing
BOM Alternative	Use F4 help	Select the BOM you created
Production Line	Your main work center	Required by SAP Cloud apps even for discrete manufacturing

7.2 Verification

After filling all fields, click ‘Check'. You should see:

• Green traffic light for Task List – Routing exists and is valid
• Green traffic light for BOM – BOM exists and is valid

Then: Save Changes & Close Screen → Save in the main transaction.

Important: Lot sizes in the Production Version MUST match the lot sizes in the Routing. If they don't match, the system may fail to find the connection.

Transaction: VA01 (Create Sales Order)

Before running MRP, you need to create demand for your Finished Goods Material. There are multiple ways to create demand, for example: Planned Independent Requirements (PIRs), Sales Order, or by simply creating a planned order.  

App: Schedule MRP Runs (Fiori) or Background Job with template ‘Requirements Planning MRP'

In S/4HANA Cloud, the classic MD01/MD02 transactions may not be available. Instead, use the ‘Schedule MRP Runs' Fiori app to create a background job.

 

9.1 MRP Run Parameters

Parameter	Value	Notes
Job Template	Requirements Planning MRP
Recurrence	Single Run / Start Immediately
Material	Your finished good	Multi-level run will plan lower levels too
Plant	Your plant
Scheduling	2 (Lead time + Capacity scheduling)	CRITICAL: Without this, planned orders have no scheduling tab and no capacity requirements
Planning Mode	3 (Delete and recreate)	Clean slate for testing; use other modes in production

Transaction: MD04 (Stock/Requirements List)

MD04 is your primary tool to verify MRP results. Enter a material and plant to see its complete supply/demand picture.

The MRP run will create demand (sales order) and supply elements (planned orders and purchase requisitions) in the system to fulfil the demand created for your finished goods material.

With the above bare minimum steps, you can achieve a complete multi-level MRP run in SAP S/4HANA. Start simple with one finished good, one semi-finished, and two raw materials. Once this works, expand to more complex multi-level trees.